Articulating Bio-Cultural Values in Bird Conservation Networks from Local to Global: a Paraguayan Case

This research project explores the ways in which ecological knowledge systems are articulated from local, lifeworld- and place-based experience to national, regional and international levels of policy and practice. It brings together anthropologists, linguists, biologists and conservation policy scientists, and includes a case study of linguistic and cultural values in Paraguayan bird conservation, via a focused eco-linguistic ethnography with Ayoreo and Yshir communities in the north-eastern Chaco region. The team aims to compare findings with similar projects in Panamá and Guyana to explore the role of language, the creative humanities and indigenous expertise in ecology, conservation and development. The results will contribute to ongoing policy, scholarly and educational conversations in Paraguay, regionally and internationally. A key contribution will be the creation of a lasting communication pathway for language and cultural values to enter policy conversations at the highest levels by bridging between the Ethno-Ornithology World Archive and World Bird Databases at BirdLife.